“I absolutely want to be there in Italy in 2026”

Created: 03/05/2022, 10:00 am

By: Bernd Heinzinger

Fast on the Olympic course: Yannik Angenend came 13th in the snowboard parallel slalom in Beijing, making him the best German.

© AFP/MARCO BERTORELLO

A few weeks ago he achieved his greatest success to date with 13th place at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing: The 21-year-old snowboarder Yannik Angenend from Lengdorf was even the best German in the parallel giant slalom.

In our all-time list of the best in Erding, he ranks 50th.

Lengdorf – His love of skiing began when he was two and a half years old.

At that time, his parents Ursula and Stefan took him to the slopes for the first time - the foundation for his later career was laid.

Yannik soon took part in the community championships organized by FC Lengdorf and won a few times: "I was already getting ambitious," he says with a smile.

The 21-year-old joined the FCL ski racing team at the age of six and also competed in his first races in the wider area.

"But I wasn't particularly successful on skis," admits Angenend.

At a district cup, the well-known snowboard expert Hans Bussler from Aschheim became aware of Yannik Angenend.

His offer was that he would provide the Lengdorfer with all the equipment - and Angenend's first attempts at snowboarding followed shortly thereafter.

"I immediately had a lot of fun snowboarding," says the man from Lengdorf.

For two seasons he competed on both skis and snowboards.

"But the double burden was pretty exhausting, practically every weekend I started in some race," he thinks back to the time.

The concentration on one of the two had to come - and the decision quickly followed: Yannik Angenend switched completely to snowboarding - in retrospect, exactly the right path that he took at the age of twelve.

Angenend soon drew attention to himself at the Ski Sports Association, and after successes in the German Race Series there was an offer for a place at the sports boarding school in Berchtesgaden - the Lengdorfer was just 13 years old at the time.

Christian Veit, trainer at the Bavarian Ski Association (BSV), naturally discussed this topic with Yannik Angenend's parents, and after much deliberation, the family decided to move away from home.

It was very hard at first, says the Lengdorfer in retrospect: "Especially in the first year, I was extremely homesick.

During the winter there was school and training during the week and racing at the weekends.

There was hardly any time to come home.” But he soon got used to his “completely new life” and also found new friends in Berchtesgaden.

At the beginning of his boarding school, Angenend was still taking part in children's races, for example in the Alpe-Adria Cup in Germany, Austria and Italy.

But at the age of 15, the Lengdorfer made it into the D/C squad of BSV, as one of the youngest at that time.

Years of apprenticeship followed, because from then on Yannik Angenend had to compete with the adults at the European Cups, because there are no longer any youth or junior classes in snowboarding from this age.

"The jump was very difficult for me at first, and I barely even made it into the second run," he says.

He did, however, gain some experience, and as a nice change came his first participation in the Junior World Championships in Rogla (Slovenia).

Even if it didn't work out there with top results, it was a great experience, emphasizes the Lengdorfer.

Eyes firmly on the podium: Yannik Angenend won his first medals as a 13-year-old.

© private

Yannik Angenend achieved his greatest international success to date in August 2018. While it was summer in Germany, the junior title fights were taking place in New Zealand at that time.

"I finished sixth there in the parallel giant slalom, that was a huge thing for me," he beamed.

The community among German snowboarders grew a great deal there.

“We just went there with three athletes and the trip brought us together,” says Yannik Angenend.

In 2018, the first participations in world cups followed, the highest level of the international snowboard series.

In Bad Gastein he made it to 57th place at his premiere.

At the German championships he even achieved first place in the parallel giant slalom, the 21-year-old defended this title in 2019 and says with a laugh: "I'm still the reigning German champion." Because of Corona there were no national competitions afterwards more.

But 2019 was also to be the year of setbacks: Angenend dislocated both shoulders in a fall and had to have surgery on both shoulders.

"That's why the winter season was pretty mediocre for me," he says.

After all, it was enough for a place in the top 30 in the World Cup before the first full season followed in 2020/21.

Yannik Angenend continued to draw attention to himself with a few places in the top 30, and he took part in the men's world championships for the first time.

This led the snowboarder back to Rogla in Slovenia.

"Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the final there because I was just too nervous," he recalls with regret.

Last winter, however, the 21-year-old kept his nerve at the World Cups and finally managed to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

Angenend delivered a great competition there.

In the end, he came in 13th among 32 participants in the snowboard parallel giant slalom: "I'm very satisfied with it," he cheered afterwards.

In qualifying it was about making the leap into the top 16.

That worked for Lengdorfer, in contrast to his German colleagues, some of whom had significantly higher bets.

The disappointment was huge, especially for Stefan Baumeister (18th), as he was considered one of the favorites.

Angenend played it safe in qualifying, and with 13th place he confidently made it into the finals, in which in the knockout system one run in each case made the difference between progress or elimination.

In the round of 16, Tim Mastnak from Slovenia faced a tough challenge for the Lengdorfer.

"My nervousness increased significantly before the finals, but it was still within limits," says the 21-year-old.

“I was able to concentrate very well on my run.

Unfortunately, I then made a small mistake on the last crest.” This was ultimately the deciding factor.

The Slovenian prevailed with a narrow gap of 0.27 seconds and even took the silver medal in the end behind the Austrian Benjamin Karl.

After the most important competition of his career so far, Yannik Angenend was "superbly satisfied that I reached the finals at all".

And that made him the best German snowboarder in the Olympic parallel giant slalom.

"In any case, it was a very great experience for me,

This season there are still three races for the Lengdorfer on the program, another highlight is the home World Cup in Berchtesgaden.

Some spectators will be allowed there, Angenend hopes.

In general, however, snowboarding is still a marginal sport and the number of fans is not nearly as large as in skiing or biathlon.

There are therefore almost no live broadcasts on TV, but that doesn't bother him much: "It's important that I continue to enjoy it and remain successful."

Reception at home: FC Lengdorf welcomes its Olympians.

© Heinzinger

The sporty look goes quite far into the distance.

Because the next Olympic Games will take place in 2026, almost right on the doorstep in Italy.

“Then I'll be at my best snowboarding age at 25.

I definitely want to be there,” emphasizes the Lengdorfer.

Hopefully it will be a "normal" Olympics there with many enthusiastic spectators - also from home.

Until then, he still wants to work on his weaknesses.

Because while Yannik Angenend loves the flat sections on the slopes, there is still a clear need for improvement in the steeper areas.

The 1.87 meter tall athlete wants to continue practicing his sport at least until he is 30 years old.

He also likes to torment himself halfway through the tough weeks of preparation.

In 2020, the 21-year-old graduated from high school and is currently in the second year of the four-year training course to become a police chief with the Federal Police - this mainly takes place for four months in the summer, so Angenend can fully concentrate on his beloved sport in the winter.

Besides training and snowboarding, he has very little time for other hobbies.

Once it works out, it's back into the mountains: then on the bike for mountain biking.

Yannik Angenend, the 21-year-old world-class snowboarder from Lengdorf: You will definitely be hearing a lot more from him in the years to come.

And who knows, maybe one day it will work out with medals at world championships or even the Olympics.